Need 1st Gen Spring Hangers/Rear Shackles | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Need 1st Gen Spring Hangers/Rear Shackles

Watchman

Well-Known Member
Joined
November 11, 2013
Messages
219
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City, State
Virginia
Year, Model & Trim Level
1993 Explorer Sport-4WD
I have a 93 ex sport (1st Gen) and need to replace LH/RH Spring Hangers and LH/RH rear spring shackles. If anybody has replacements or can direct me to a supplier I would appreciate it. Thanks !
 



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Your best bet is probably going to be the junkyard. You can get the "universal" shakes at the auto parts store in the section where they have the helper springs and stuff. I've been running them on my 94 for the past 5 years or so with no problems!
 






Tip: If you like to take corners hard, don't buy the autozone shackles.
 












Thanks Amine - Finding the shackles is not too hard - but how about the spring hangers ? I trie all three for the shcakles and no problem - but I don't see that they have spring hangers. Is there a Bronco substitute ?
 






I have a set of like new shackles sitting on my shelf, send me a PM if your interested. Are you looking for the front spring hanger for the spring or the rear bushing?
 






You may have to call the Levittown Ford parts department (or send them a PM on here) to ask about the spring hangers, since that's not a commonly replaced or ordered part. They are the same part for older and newer Explorers that have rear leaf springs, so they should still be available.

You could also contact 1A auto directly via phone or PM as well, they might also have the front hangers in an aftermarket version, but they may only carry more common parts like the shackles.

Otherwise you may find someone on here who is parting out and will drill/grind off the rivets and remove the spring hangers to send them to you, or someone who has a removed pair they will sell.

Getting the shackles from someone on here too will likely be much less expensive than from Ford, and you'll still get OE Ford shackles for less money. The shackles 1A Auto and Rockauto sell are inexpensive aftermarket replacements.


Otherwise a quick google search found this:

http://www.autoandtrucksprings.com/catalog/Ford_Explorer_Suspenion_Kits-164-1.html
 






JC Whitney is offering Dorman brand rear-rear shackle and the front rear spring bracket (hanger) as a set for $30. This includes all hardware and bushings. So, I could replace all four points for the rear springs for $60 including shipping.

What do you all think ?
 






The $30 kit at JC Whitney is just the rear shackle, with bushings and hardware.

Dorman doesn't make the front spring hanger, nor do I see any front hanger on JC Whitney's site.

I'm pretty sure boominXplorer will sell you the shackles for way under $60 if you just need those.

The Dorman kit isn't a bad deal for someone that wants to replace the bushings and get all the hardware in one shot, but it's just extra junk to pay for if you just want the shackles themselves.
 






Anime - So then the Dorman Leaf Spring Shackle kit (Manufacturer #: 722-009) is just the rear-rear shackle plus bushing/hardware for the rear of the spring and the bracket/bushing/hardware is for the mid-spring area ?
 






Update to shackle install:

Removing the nuts for the upper and lower bolts went ok - but use a couple of PB blaster applications first. Also - remove your spare tire for underneath access - for sure.

BUT - The hardest part of the job trying to knock out the upper bolt that went thru a sleeve into the bushing on the frame rail. If you have an old EX used in the rust belt be prepared to spend hours beating that bolt out unless you have air tools. I don't and had to grind the head off and beat it both ways with a 4 lb hammer until the bolt finally came out with the sleeve. Then it was easy. Took the sleeve to the vise and tapped the bolt out ???? !!!! Amazing !! Today I got the RH side done. I started the LS tonight and - yep same issue with the upper bolt sleeve - pooped out. So, Tomorrow trying again to finish the job. I live in the sticks and I don't have anybody to borrow air tools from.

Any ideas ? I was going to try heat but the bushing in the frame rail have rubber so I stopped right there. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks guys.
 






So then the Dorman Leaf Spring Shackle kit (Manufacturer #: 722-009) is just the rear-rear shackle plus bushing/hardware for the rear of the spring and the bracket/bushing/hardware is for the mid-spring area ?

The Dorman kit is the shackle, the upper and lower bushings (one for the rear of the leaf spring where the bottom of the shackle mounts, one for the frame mount where the top of the shackle goes) and two bolts.


Any ideas ? I was going to try heat but the bushing in the frame rail have rubber so I stopped right there. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks guys.

Heat can work, but sometimes it works against you and expands the metal sleeve. Generally pressing out the bushing/sleeve is preferable to beating it out with a hammer since the inner frame mount for the bushing is pretty weak.

A good tool to use for this is the ball joint press tool that auto parts stores rent out for doing ball joints on the Explorer.

You can always drill/cut/burn out the inner rubber part of the bushing, then try to get the metal outer sleeve out, but that can be tricky to do without damaging anything, and then you have to get the new bushing/sleeve in, so you may as well use the press to get the old bushing out since you really need to press the new one in to do it right.

Keep in mind you don't need to press/hammer out the bolt if you are going to remove the rest of the bushing and replace it. You can just cut the ends of the bolt off with a hacksaw/reciprocating saw, then push the whole bushing out with a press and/or drill out the rubber around the bolt that is seized to the metal inner sleeve.
 






New Bushing

Will this work also for just the bolt ? On the RH side the bolt was just fused to the sleeve and would not come out, so I had to bang the sleeve out with it, then separate the two - then pound the sleeve back in.

The rubber bushing isn' the issue - its the sleeve. The sleeve can move inside the bushing. I 'll try the ball joint tool and see if that can be used just for the bolt/sleeve.

OK - forget above response - say I press our bushing sleeve and cutoff bolt (I have a grinder) Where do you get replacement bushings ? This bushing is not in the spring but the frame rail.
 






Update to the stuck bolt:

I found that if you only have hand tools. The best technique is after removing the nut, to go to the bolt head - remove the teardrop stop - it will pry off - then put you 13/16" socket on the bolt head and slowly back and forth with a breaker bar - work the bolt back and forth - this may take a little time - but not like hours with a huge hammer - anyway, work with bolt until it THEN can be pounded out. Even if the sleeve comes with it you can still remove the bolt from the sleeve - then pound the sleeve back into the bushing (which by the way the Ford dealer did not have - and it is NOT the same size as the leaf spring eye bushing).
This morning I had the bolt out in 30 minutes. Better than yesterday's 6-7 hours with a hammer and having to grind off the bolt end. The method above will allow you to use ordinary hand tools to get a bolt out of a sleeve stuck in a bushing without having to do any grinding. Hope this helps someone out.
I was glad to replace these shackles (Thanks BoominExplorer !!) - the front spring hangers still look like they have plenty of metal on them in spite of the rust. The drivers rear spring shackle was almost completely gone. Thanks to all you guys for your help and suggestions.
 






Yeah, the shackles are made of thinner metal and rust through and need to be replaced.

The front hangers are really thick and rust doesn't do much. You can just sand/wire brush them and spray paint them with some rust preventative paint if you want.

You can get replacement bushings for the leaf spring eyes and the in-frame shackle bushing from Energy Suspension if you ever need them. Energy Suspension also makes a whole kit for about ~$100 that replaces most suspension bushings on the Explorer, which is a good value when you need to replace the radius arm bushings and to replace the sway bar bushings with firmer ones for better handling. It's a heck of a job pressing out the old bushings though, and those front leaf spring bolts in the hangers are probably even worse than the rears were.
 






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